Gutter cleaning, repair and new gutters in Whitmore Lake, MI

When to clean gutters in Whitmore Lake

The first fall frost comes around October 13 in a typical year here, and the last spring frost around May 5 (median dates, NOAA normals). Plan the fall visit for after the frost, when the trees over the roof have finished dropping, and the spring visit for after the pollen and catkins.

When to clean gutters explains how the trees over a roof change the schedule.

Gutter and downspout size for Whitmore Lake rain

What overwhelms a gutter is a burst, not a season. In Whitmore Lake the five-minute rain expected about once in ten years falls at 6.49 inches an hour (NOAA Atlas 14 Volume 8). At that rate one 2-by-3-inch downspout drains about 1,110 square feet of roof and one 3-by-4-inch downspout about 2,220, by the rule in the Copper Development Association’s design handbook. Try your own roof in the gutter and downspout calculator, which starts from this figure.

Whitmore Lake averages about 61 inches of snow a year (NOAA normals). Snow on a roof brings ice dams: heat escaping from the house melts the snow, and the water refreezes at the cold eave, in the gutter and over it. University of Minnesota Extension puts the cause in the attic, not in the gutter, so a gutter that fills with ice is a symptom; hangers spaced to carry ice and a sound fascia are what the gutter itself needs.

The houses in Whitmore Lake

Half the homes in Whitmore Lake were built by 1986, 38% before 1980 (ACS 2020–2024). In a neighborhood that age, many houses are on their second set of gutters or due for one, and the fascia board behind them is worth checking at the same visit.

70% of households own their home, and 64% of homes are detached houses, 2% townhouses. Where an HOA governs the exterior, its rules on gutter color and style apply before any order is placed.

Hiring in Michigan

Ask any contractor working in Whitmore Lake what Michigan requires of them for gutter work, and to show proof of insurance. Hiring a gutter contractor